1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a cassette of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,844,647, for packaging bookbinding strips of the type shown in FIG. 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 4,369,013, and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,674,906. A cassette may be used in equipment for binding books wherein the binding strips are mechanically fed into the equipment preparatory to binding by means of equipment such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,616 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,017,071. Strips may also be removed from the cassette for manual insertion into other bookbinding equipment. The cassette hereinafter described is constructed to ensure secure stacking of cassettes while taking up a minimum of volume during shipping, handling and storage.
2. Description of the Related Art
The cassette hereinafter described is constructed so as to package a plurality of strips such as those heretofore described, such strips being a well-known means for binding books and documents. Heretofore such strips have been commercially packaged in boxes or packaged in cassettes so that they may be automatically fed into proper position for assembly of a book or a document preparatory to binding same. The strips are arranged in side-by-side relationship and discharged from one end of the cassette into receiving means for transfer into a position whereby they may be assembled with punched sheets of paper so that the completed document or book may be bound. The present invention improves the structure of a cassette of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,844,647 by considerably reducing the volume such cassettes take up when stacked for shipping or storage, or in the automatic binding machine, while considerably improving the stability and rigidity of columns of said stacked cassettes.